MSI Press Blog

  Today's book excerpt comes from Widow: How to Survive (and Thrive!) in Your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Years  by Joanna Romer. Year Two Carving Out a Place for Yourself Nothing in my previous experience prepared me for being a widow, not my 40 years of job experience, ranging from Cosmopolitan Magazine to St. John’s University; not my 25 years of marriage to my beloved husband, Jack; not even my five years of worrying about Jack as he slowly become fatally ill. The widow experience is, as I’m sure you’ll agree, unprecedented. We can’t sugarcoat being a widow. After a year of widowhood, you’ve probably figured that out. It’s hard, it’s a struggle, it’s not something that goes away like the flu. And, unless you get married again, you’re going to be a widow from now on. Yet, believe it or not, you can get used to it. I feel pretty good about my widow status now, although it’s taken me awhile the reach that plateau---4 ½ years. The first year was a killer, wasn’t it? The depression, the pain

  Excerpt from Widow: A Survival Guide for the First Year --  CHAPTER ONE Being Alone When I was in my mid-20s, I worked at Cosmopolitan Magazine as an Assistant Editor. My tenure there was short (barely a year), but because my editor liked me I was able to secure freelance assignments in later years. Writing for Cosmo , I learned that almost any problem can be remedied with concentrated self-nurturing and a few well thought-out lists. And so, throughout the years, I was able to handle two divorces, three marriages, many job changes and the untimely deaths of both my parents (although this last occurrence required the help of a very nice therapist). When Jack, my beloved husband of 16 years, died at the age of 71, I was devastated. There were days in those first months when I really didn’t see what I had to live for. Other times, I believed that I too would soon leave this earth, and so I scampered around trying to get my affairs in order. If you are a recent widow, you’re pro

  I would so love to be able to reach through "the veil" and ask Joanna ro provide the back story to A Woman's Guide to Self-Nurturing . Alas, that is not possible. However, as her publisher, I do remember some conversations with her at the time she was planning and writing this book. It was a modest amount of time after we published her popular and award-winning book, Widow .  Widow grew out of her own experience at losing her husband and partner of many years; together, they had produced the 1972 feature film, Please Stand By.  As a result of her experience as a widow, she learned that she needed to take care of herself, first and foremost. She focused on a popular concept at the time: self-nurturing. A Woman's Guide to Self-Nurturing was her way, as a professor of journalism, of sharing what she experienced and learned with others. For more posts on Joanna and her books, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC Newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Bo

  Today's book excerpt comes from Joanna Romer's Widow: How to Survive (and Thrive!) in Your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Years CHAPTER SIX Exercise Dare I bring up the obvious? There are few things as crucial to your state of mind as exercise. While it may have been easy to go the gym, run around the block, or swim at the neighborhood pool during your first year of widowhood, by Year Two it’s become a little harder. Why is that? Quite simply, when you’re in a state of extreme stress or depression, such as early widowhood, exercise acts as a tonic, giving an immediate boost. As your sense of wellbeing returns, the benefits of exercise aren’t so obvious. They are still there, however, and exercise is still vitally important. Even though we begin to feel a new sense of calm and acceptance waking up in the morning, that doesn’t mean we should loll around the house all day in our pajamas. Yes, certainly, once a week it’s great to take a day off, but during the week try to incorporate a little

Extracted from photo by M. Katherine Shear, M.D. See original photo with words and blog article at aspire.com .   Whether they die in war, from illness, by suicide, or as a result end-of-life issues, their loss affects relatives, friends, acquaintances, neighbors, and colleagues in  devastating ways. The following books are gentle but helpful treatments of the issues of bereavement and grief. Damascus amid the War by Muna Imady Written by popular author, Muna Imady, whose book, Syrian Folktales, has delighted an uncountable number of readers outside of Syria, Damascus amid the War tells the very human story of the devolution of a society. The book containts 29 pre-war poins, vibrant with imagery of daily life in a robust Damascus. The 100 war poems that follow show the devastating affect on the people who navigate a daily existence after war came. This is a posthumous publication, containing Muna’s very last works and an introduction by her mother, Elaine Imady, author of Road to Dama

  Today's book excerpt comes from  Widow: A Survival Guide for the First Year by Joanna Romer. Two Rules for Survival   There is married, and there is married. Most of my friends, influenced by the women’s empowerment movement of the 1970s, worked at jobs they liked, even if they had children. They had careers, meaning their job wasn’t just something to do for money---it was meaningful work that fulfilled a part of their being. These women weren’t married in the same way their mothers were married. No matter how much they loved their husbands, from the very beginning of their adult lives they sought satisfaction through paths in addition to marriage. If you were one of these women, be grateful. Be grateful that you learned early on that your whole meaning in life does not rest solely with a man. If you were not one of these women, be grateful too, because you’re going to learn this valuable truth now. And these are just two of the many blessings you should be grateful for.